"The Violet Citadel's treasury has a very strict monitoring system, with Kirin Tor elite mages patrolling and guarding it twenty-four hours a day."
Archmage Rommath introduced Arthas to the Violet Citadel, located in the central district of Dalaran. As the center of power in the magical kingdom, this ancient magical castle concealed unimaginable treasures.
These treasures not only referred to wealth in gold and silver, but also powerful magical items, and even ancient artifacts collected by Dalaran mages from all over the world.
After Guardian Medivh's fall and death, his mage tower, Karazhan, became a coveted prize in Dalaran's eyes.
They even established an organization called the [Violet Eye], ostensibly to monitor the situation of the tower, but in reality, they were carting away box after box of accumulated knowledge and wealth from the Guardian's mage tower.
Don't think that mages are all aloof; when faced with powerful and profound magical knowledge and endlessly powerful artifacts, they are far more greedy than ordinary people.
Although the Guardian's tower has not yet been fully explored by the Kirin Tor Council, their activities were limited to the outer areas and lower levels of Karazhan. The higher floors were subjected to a terrible curse after Medivh's death, and even elite mages dared not venture deeper.
The careless and greedy adventurers who were forever left in Karazhan served as the best warning.
However, despite the significant human and material resources expended by the Kirin Tor, they still managed to retrieve many good things from Karazhan. Besides valuable magical knowledge, Medivh's treasured possessions were among them.
Arthas's purpose in coming this time was to confirm the safety of the cursed artifact in Dalaran's treasury, the medivh's book.
This spellbook was originally just notes on certain magical insights left by Guardian Medivh, but after he completely fell, the magic recorded within became increasingly dangerous.
Furthermore, having been carried by the Guardian for a long time and imbued with his vast magical power, this notebook had long since evolved into an artifact akin to a grimoire.
Moreover, this book also contained the astral coordinates of Azeroth and the method for constructing the Dark Portal. If it fell into the wrong hands, it could be said to directly expose Azeroth to the void.
In the established timeline, it was Archlich Kel'Thuzad, resurrected by Arthas, who utilized the knowledge recorded in the book and the magical energy of Dalaran to summon Archimonde, The Polluter.
This terrifying demon possessed power comparable to that of a god. With a mere wave of his hand, he overturned the entire Dalaran, and the mages who fled in panic were utterly powerless against the leader of the Burning Legion.
It wasn't until Archimonde left that the fleeing mages cautiously returned to the ruins, collecting remaining wealth while planning how to rebuild Dalaran.
"Can we go in and confirm and check it?"
Archmage Rommath shook his head, "I'm afraid not. That would require the consent of at least half of the Council of Six to enter the treasury for investigation."
"What can we see just from the outside?" Mograine was already displeased with Dalaran's attitude. "We don't even know if there are any traces of demon activity inside!"
"While that is true, I think Dalaran's defense system is still trustworthy."
A soft female voice rang out. Arthas sighed, "Vereesa, generally speaking, that's true, but our opponents are not ordinary people either."
The High Elf referred to as Vereesa was Sylvanas Windrunner's sister. She joined Arthas's investigation team, firstly because she was very interested in this renowned young prince, and secondly because she heard that Arthas had saved her sister's life and came specifically to help them.
Although not comparable to Dalaran's high-level mage group, Vereesa's title as Ranger-General still held some sway in Dalaran.
And earlier, because of her appearance, which was almost identical to Sylvanas's, even Arthas almost thought Sylvanas had come to Dalaran.
But on second thought, Arthas ruled out this possibility—as the Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas, it was almost impossible for Sylvanas to leave their homeland, so the identity of this ranger, who looked exactly like Sylvanas, was easy to deduce.
But to be honest, Arthas temporarily did not want to be involved with Vereesa; more precisely, he did not want to have contact with someone who was very close to Vereesa.
That person's name was Ronin. For this person, Arthas had only one evaluation:
A super Invincible ultimate jinx.
The dangerous predicaments he encountered were perhaps unimaginable to anyone, yet he was precisely the luckiest person when facing these dangers, and it was often his teammates who suffered.
There is a saying among the mages of Dalaran: If Deathwing were to swallow Ronin and choke to death, we would instantly be rid of two scourges.
Think about it, how terrible must it be to be compared to Deathwing, the world-destroying Red Dragon? Other mages in Dalaran generally kept their distance from Ronin, fearing that they might be cursed to death by him one day.
But this young man's luck was exceptionally good. Because of his mission to save the Red Dragon Queen, he gained the attention of the Guardian Dragons, and he also fell in love with his then-teammate, who is now standing before Arthas, Vereesa Windrunner.
Deathwing's injury was inextricably linked to Ronin. If Deathwing's plan had not been disrupted by the variable that was Ronin, it's possible that the other Guardian Dragons would have already been eliminated.
Arthas did not want to team up with Ronin; he still had many things to do and did not want to directly confront the Dark Titan Sargeras.
But Vereesa was genuinely trying to help, and she herself was not a trouble-making machine. As long as Ronin was not involved, Vereesa's identity could indeed be quite useful to Arthas.
Arthas once again scanned the heavily guarded treasury, then said to the group, "Let's go. There are no signs of infiltration here for now."
The three looked at Arthas in surprise, not knowing how he came to this conclusion.
"There are no traces of demons having appeared here, and the treasury's defensive arrays and other defensive mechanisms are all very complete," Arthas said after a quick glance, no longer focusing his attention on it.
"Besides, if even this place had been infiltrated by the Dreadlords, why would he wait for us to arrive? He would have already left with what he wanted."
As an Archmage, Rommath could not possibly fail to discern whether the defensive arrays were intact or not; intact and flawed magical arrays even emit different magical echoes.
Since he hadn't discovered any abnormalities, there was no need to argue with the Kirin Tor about this matter. Arthas's original intention was to find a way to directly take away the medivh's book and find a place to completely destroy it, but clearly, with the treasury's security mechanisms, this was certainly impossible.
What a pity… I had originally planned to act before Tichondrius and take the item.
Dalaran's treasury defenses were indeed well-done; even the Secret Intelligence Agency's people couldn't infiltrate it. Arthas's idea could only fall through, and with two outsiders, Rommath and Vereesa, it was even less possible to use such a method.
"Prince Arthas is right, otherwise the demons would have already acted—I suggest we go check the nearby ley line nodes. If the demons have used magical power, perhaps we can find some clues."
As a knowledgeable Archmage, Rommath proposed the best suggestion he could think of, which coincided with Arthas's idea. With Tichondrius showing no slightest trace, they could only first investigate any unusual circumstances.
"This requires going to some places with higher security clearance, but my and Rommath's identities should be able to solve most problems," Vereesa said softly. She tilted her head slightly, "But there's one place we can't go."
Everyone followed Vereesa's gaze. The tall main tower of the Violet Citadel stood majestically, which was the central point of Dalaran's ley line network and the heart of the entire city.